Novel's Tumblr Drabbles
by TheNovelArtist
Summary: A collection of drabbles from my Tumblr that are all too short to be their own stories.
1. The Lost Bet

She. Could not. _Believe_. She lost the bet to Chat.

And that she let the stakes be that high.

At least it wasn't "reveal your identity to me" or "go on a date with me".

But "reveal to your crush you like them" _wasn't much better._

"What's the worst that could happen?" Chat asked. "He turns you down and I offer to be your rebound?"

She glared at her partner.

He smirked like a cat who got the cream.

She wanted to smack that stupid smile right off his stupid face with his stupid baton.

Stupid cat.

Worse yet, she had until next patrol to do it. Two days. Meaning within two days, she had to tell Adrien she liked him.

"I can do it. I can do it. I can do it."

"You _can,_ Marinette," Tikki said. "But you won't if you spend another four hours pacing your room trying to give yourself a pep talk."

Marinette groaned and collapsed on her sofa. "Who am I kidding? He'll turn me down and then I'll never get a job in any fashion industry because Gabriel will brand me a fangirl and I'll have to work at the bakery forever and I'll never be able to have a hamster because of food safety."

Tikki sighed. "Oh, Marinette. What am I going to do with you."

* * *

It was both fortunate and unfortunate the opportunity that presented itself the next day, and Ladybug didn't know whether to thank or curse her ladybug luck.

"You should be careful," she said to Adrien after the akuma was purified. She had to snatch him from the Akuma's clutches beforehand and was checking up on him.

He shrugged. "At least you were there."

"But what if I'm not?" she asked. "I don't want you to get hurt. I…"

And this was it. The breaking point. She swallowed and forced herself to plow forward with the next words.

"I really care about you."

… Good enough.

His eyes got wide as he stared at her, his jaw slack. "Wh- what?"

Her face slowly flamed. She shrugged, trying to be cool about it, but she knew she was failing. Spectacularly. "Well, I… You…"

She bit her lip. This was harder than she thought.

"The boy behind the camera owns Ladybug's heart." If her heart wasn't pounding before, it was pounding now. "But, that's for your ears only."

"You can trust me," he said, snatching both her hands and pressing them against his chest. "I swear. I won't let that get out to anyone lest it gets to Hawkmoth."

She smiled, though her cheeks were still probably as red as her suit. "I know," she said. "It's one of the reasons I like you so much."

His brow furrowed. "What is?"

"That I can trust you with that sort of secret," she said, looking into those green eyes and feeling her head spin and her heart do cartwheels inside her chest. "No matter how many burdens you carry, you'll pick up a burden for a friend in a heartbeat. It's not fair for me to dump a secret on you, and I'm sorry—"

"Don't apologize," he interrupted. "_Please,_ don't apologize. I feel like I just was handed the world. I mean, I have the heart of Paris' sweetheart. That's…" He grinned, a real grin, one a little lopsided and just utterly _happy_. "It's amazing."

There went her heart again.

In a moment of stupid boldness, she pulled her hands away from him, only to cradle his cheeks, pulling his head down to press a kiss on his brow. And when she realized just what she did, she spun to leave.

Only for Adrien to grab her and yank her back around, causing her to trip and crash against his chest.

"Meet me tonight," he begged.

She was speechless.

"My house, everyone knows where it is," he said. "The rooftop. An hour after sundown. Please."

Her jaw worked to answer him, only for words to die on her tongue.

His expression was growing increasingly desperate. "Please," he begged again on a whisper.

"Okay," she finally whispered in return. "Okay."

His expression was one you'd never see on any model photo ever. It was too unabashedly happy and free and hopeful. "I'll be waiting."

So would she, but her brain told her she better leave now so she could have a good chunk of time to freak out before having a secret meeting with her crush on the rooftop under the cover of night.

Never in all her years as Ladybug had she gotten a bigger thrill.


	2. Super-Bros

Chat had just about had it. There were a couple questionable moments beforehand that he could let slide. Middle of an akuma attack usually means things like being conscious of personal space is tossed out the window. But there wasn't an akuma and therefore Carapace had _no_ reason to be getting that friendly with Alya.

So when the new turtle reappeared when a new akuma popped up, Chat waited until after ladybug had de-evilized the butterfly to confronting him.

"Listen, _dude,_" Chat began, glaring at the new hero in a way he _knew_ was unsettling. "You're getting a little too familiar with the ladyblogger than what I would deem 'cool'. She's got a boyfriend, you know. He's really awesome guy who doesn't deserve to be cheated on. Either lay off, or I'll shred you. Clear?"

Carapace just stood there, jaw on the ground and eyes comically wide.

Chat smiled. "I'll take that as a yes." He spun around to walk off.

"Dude! Wait."

Chat turned to Carapace, who looked really sheepish. "That's really cool of you, dude," Carapace said. "Looking out for her boyfriend and all. But… you don't have to."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Chat challenged, arms crossed and glaring at the new super. "He's my bro and I'm not going to let—"

"Whoa, what?"

And that's when Chat's heart sank upon realizing his impassioned slip-up.

"Adrien?"

Chat's eyes went wide. And suddenly, Adrien could see past the mask. "Nino?"

They stood there, starstruck for a moment before Carapace smiled. "_Dude_!"

Chat nervously rubbed the back of his neck and cringed a grin.

"Dude! You're friggin' Chat Noir! Dude! _Dude_!" Nino's tone suddenly changed. "You were totally gonna kick my butt because you thought I was flirting with Alya. Dude, you're the best bro _ever_!"

Chat couldn't stop the snorting laugh that came out of him as Nino slung his arm over his shoulders. "Yeah. I totally was. Sorry about that."

"Nah!" Nino brushed off. "That's totally cool of you. You didn't know. It's all good."

Chat grinned. "Anything for you, bro."

"And I got your back, too, bro," Carapace said, holding his fist out. "And now I know you're Chat Noir, I'll totally cover for you for _anything._"

Chat's smile widened as he bumped his bro's fist. "Thanks, bro."

Carapace grinned, but it quickly fell. "Wait…" he said. "If you're Chat Noir, then… Ladybug…"

He shrugged. "You kinda get my crush now, right?"

"_Duuuuude_," Carapace drawled out.

"Yeah."

"This _totally_ screws up everything."

Chat's brow furrowed in sudden confusion. "What?"

"Yeah," Carapace explained. "Because Alya totally ships you and Ma-_my_ friend. But she also ships you and Ladybug."

And now Chat was really confused.

"And I don't want this girl to get hurt, but at the same point… dude, you and Ladybug."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"It means I'm screwed because I have to stop Alya from trying to set up you and her friend while not revealing your identity while also totally trying to be your wingman to get Ladybug."

Chat nodded slowly. "That… is not good."

Carapace sighed. "You're tellin' me."


	3. Gag Gift

All good ideas start with exhaustion. If you asked Marinette, that was how she came up with the idea to get him a gag gift in the first place. At the end of a long night that included puns. An exorbitant amount. Most about Chat being a cat. Some about how horrible it would be if someone got her a bug zapper. If you asked her how they got on _that_ topic, she'd say she wouldn't know. When she and her partner were tired and punchy yet still wanting to hang out into the ungodly hours of the night because they were best friends, their conversations went to all sorts of places.

So out of all the foggy connections she had made, she still couldn't trace what connection there was between Chat's impending birthday and her brilliantly deciding that she should get him a gag gift. She thinks it had something to do with her threatening to get him a spray bottle for every time he said a pun. Or maybe it had to do something with him being a stray. ("You're gonna take me home to live with you?" "I would, but you're not housetrained.")

No matter how she came to that conclusion, it didn't change the fact that she was currently strolling through the pet store across from her favorite fabric shop. Or rather, stopping to ogle over the hamsters that she wanted one day.

"Can I help you, miss?"

Marinette looked away from the hamsters towards the employee. She gave him a quick smile. "No, thank you. Just looking."

"A lot of people do," he replied with a grin. "The little critters are just too cute to pass up."

"Yeah. I wish I could get one, but my parents said no. Most I have is a stray cat that comes to visit every so often."

The man chuckled. "Cat section is to the back of the store to the left if that's what you're wondering."

Marinette chuckled sheepishly. "Thanks."

She made her way to the back of the store. In her tired state, she toyed with the cat bells, then thought about getting him a leash to go with a collar. (Actually, she read on-line that cats really need to walk on a harness instead of a collar because the collar was way too easy to wiggle out of. Later, she'd adamantly deny that she held an electric green harness and leash in her hands.) Then she went over to the cat toys. Her fun of wondering if Chat would actually play with any of them was quickly cut off when she caught eye of the catnip filled ones. That was not an experiment she wanted to try.

The laser pointer was tempting, though.

She by-passed the cat food. That hurt her too much. Honestly, her cat _was_ too thin. She wanted to do something about that, and was going to try, but not with actually cat food. That as a gag gift made her sick to her stomach.

Then she got to the last aisle.

And the biggest shit-eating grin stretched across her face. She didn't even blink as she paid for it.

* * *

"Happy Birthday, Chat."

Ok, seriously, the second that shocked, stunned, and otherwise completely unexpectant look crossed his face at the sight of the gift, she had second thoughts. But too late for it now. She just tried to keep the grin on her face as she passed him the box.

He gaped at it like he'd never seen a present before. "For me?"

She nodded, ignoring the way his pathetic little tone made her heart twist. She had to remind herself that she had an actual gift for him as well.

He took the box and ripped the paper open with the enthusiasm of a little child, his smile growing until he lifted the lid off the box. That was when his smile faded and Ladybug's grew.

Chat pulled the little plastic bin out of the box, giving her a confused grin. One that twisted even more when he saw the bag of litter inside it.

"It's a litterbox," she said. "Now you have somewhere to bury all those terrible puns."

Chat spent a good ten minutes rolling on the ground, laughing his butt off.

Ladybug spent a good amount of that time doing the same.

* * *

It was two days later that Marinette received a picture from her kitty. She had been hanging out with Alya when her phone buzzed. And she promptly proceeded to burst into hysterical laughter.

"What so funny?"

It took a moment between the guffaws for Marinette to wheeze out that her friend just sent her the funniest picture ever.

But honestly, Alya had no idea what was so funny about a picture of a filled litterbox with a gravestone marked "puns".


	4. Two Short Months

"You're never going to give me up, are you, Chat?"

It wasn't a question. Ladybug knew the answer. He'd said as much to Marinette and everything he did—once Ladybug looked back and examined it—proved he was really just a dork in love with her.

_Madly_ in love with her.

"Only until another forces me to, Milady."

The reverence in his tone proved what he meant by that. He was only going to give her up if she was in a very serious relationship with another man.

Which she wasn't.

Meaning, she was left with a very hard choice: crush her best friend's heart and continue to pursue Adrien who she had an odd sort of friendship with, or leave behind the boy whom she still loved for a boy she spent the better part of six years building an indestructible bond with.

And she really didn't like making it.

After a long moment, she unfolded her hands from her lap, resting one of them over Chat Noir's as they sat on the edge of the building.

He wrapped it up in his own and slowly pulled her hand towards him. She couldn't help but turn her head away from the fading sun to look at him. His eyes were every single color in the sky, which was good because those green depths behind the blazing colors were downright dangerous. He never broke eye contact as he pressed his lips to her knuckles, letting them linger for the longest time.

Chat had never made her heart race the way it did now.

Slowly, he lowered her hand, showing off the smile he sent her. It stoked a fire in her belly warm enough to make the chill of night disappear.

"Let me take you on a date."

His words were expected, but the reverence they held left her breathless. "Okay."

The smile he gave her paired with the gleam in his eye was her only warning that she was knees deep in a relationship with him already.

Which begged the terrifying question: how long before he pulled her completely under?

* * *

The answer, she learned, was two months.

Two shockingly quick months of dates hidden under the cover of night led to two more just as speedy months of affectionate meetings among the bars of the Eiffel Tower and sweet lovers' strolls along the rooftops while hand in hand. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

The deeper they grew in their relationship, the more they stayed the same.

The clearest example was how their partnership changed, yet they were as effective as they always were. Their battles were still won. No one in Paris suspected a thing.

But then again, that last point may very well be because Chat chose dark corners to kiss her senseless in.

Ladybug gasped, her kiss-bruised lips wide open to pant for air. Chat, breathing heavy as well, rested his forehead against hers. Her eyes closed on their own accord, leaning into him even though there wasn't much room between the two of them. There was nothing else except his arms around her, her hands resting over his shoulders, and two sets of heartbeats pounding loud enough to hear.

"Have I told you I love you yet?" Chat whispered.

Her lips quirked up despite still panting. "You mean tonight?" she teased.

"Of course tonight," he said with a smile, "Would be a tragedy if I never told you before now."

"It would," she agreed.

He hummed happily. "I love you."

Whether the first or the twentieth time that night, her heart leapt all the same. She threaded her fingers through his hair, wishing not for the first time that she could feel how truly soft those blonde locks were against her fingers. "I love you, too. So, so, _so_ much."

There was no price she wouldn't pay to see his smile. But for it to come at the cost of her heart pouring out the truth was one she could afford to pay over and over again.

His hold on her shifted. They couldn't get closer, but if felt like they did. The tip of his nose rested against the tip of hers. "I love _us_," he whispered.

Her heart overflowed again. "I love us, too," she agreed, tightening her hold on him. Had you told her four months ago that she would take a chance on her partner and end up more madly in love with him than she had ever been with Adrien Agreste, she would have scoffed.

How she could be so in love with a man she didn't know the name of, she didn't know, yet it seemed so inconsequential in that moment.

"I don't want us to change," Chat said.

"It's funny," she began, "that for as much as we have changed, I don't think we've changed at all."

He leaned against her, foreheads rubbing together and noses brushing in eskimo kisses.

As if there weren't enough kisses tonight.

"I just want it to stay that way." His voice was so raw at that moment, his heart bearing its fear and loneliness and its trembling courage to hope.

It broke her heart that her kitty put on such a strong front when his poor heart was shattered inside. It wasn't the first time she wondered just who left him so damaged, and worse yet, if she was a contributing factor. "What could I do to prove that to you?"

The silence that stretched between them only caused her to tense.

"Kitty?"

He pulled away, and her eyes blew open and immediately locked onto his. In those green depths lit only by the ambient light of the night, she could see the fear swimming around in his soul. "I…" he began, his voice breaking off. He swallowed before trying again. "Don't yell at me… for anything."

Her chest tightened "I won't."

Slowly, their embrace fell away. He dug around in his pockets while sinking to his knees.

Correction: _a _knee.

"Marry me?"

Ladybug felt numb. Her pounding heart and shaking hands were all ignored as she stared at the glittering ring he presented her. "Chat…" Her voice was shockingly weak and words were a struggle to come by. "You don't know anything about me."

"I know enough," Chat gently countered. "I know what's important."

"You don't know my name."

He shrugged. "And you don't know mine. But to me, that's what makes it so special."

Her brow furrowed, but her ability to speak still hadn't returned. Because of that, the silence stretched for a good while.

With every passing moment, Chat's smile grew weaker, thinner, and slowly fell away all together.

Ladybug's heart couldn't take it. "You have to know my name," she blurted out.

He froze, his brow knitting together.

She swallowed. "And I have to know your name before I say yes." She forced a teasing smile. "It may not be important to you, but it's important to me that my parents know who I'm engaged to."

His eyes widened with surprise at her words. Her heart was pounding in her chest wildly, nervously.

"At the count of three?" he ventured.

Those words gave her courage. Her smile was real when she nodded. "Okay. Count of three."

"One," he said.

"Two," she followed.

_"Three_," they said together.

* * *

There were tears shed by both parties that night: tears of happiness at their luck, tears of laughter at their stupidity, and finally, tears of joy because she said yes.


	5. Down Payment

A/N: I blame RoseGartenTwilight for ever putting Code Lyoko AUs for Miraculous Ladybug in my head

* * *

One would think Ladybug, the superhero of Paris, would be more careful.

One would be wrong.

Marinette grinned up at Officer Raincomprix, feeling pretty guilty despite being mostly innocent. She wouldn't exactly call "taking back something someone else stole from you," stealing. But coming out of Chloe Bourgeois' room with her bag full of things needed for the Miraculous Ladybug plan to work looked pretty incriminating.

"Why hello, sir," Marinette chipped with an overly large grin. "Lovely day, isn't it?"

* * *

"What's taking her?" Adrien wondered. He pulled out his phone just in time to see Marinette call. He was quick to answer it. "Marinette! Where are—"

"I got caught."

Adrien froze. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I snuck out of Chloe's room just in time to get caught by Sabrina's dad. I'm in the mayor's office now. Chloe's sure to be tick—IGottaGo."

And just like that, the line went dead.

Adrien scowled at his phone.

"What?" Alya asked, looking over at Adrien. "Was that Marinette?"

"She got caught by Sabrina's dad, and now she's sitting in Mr. Bourgeois' office."

Nino's face paled. "But we can't defeat this akuma without her! We _need_ those things she grabbed."

"And we can't exactly break her out of the mayor's office," Alya said. "Not without causing more chaos and some speculation."

Adrien growled. "Actually," he grumbled. "I can think of a way."

* * *

"You want me to do _what_?" Chloe cried.

"Please, Chloe," Adrien begged. "I'll do anything."

"Anything?"

Adrien cringed. He hated this already. "I… I'll go out with you for… for a week."

"A _week_!" she screeched. "For Marinette, the price is two months. _Minimum._"

"One month and a down payment."

Chloe's anger faded to surprise. "What kind of 'down payment'?"

* * *

Marinette was up to her ears in trouble. Honestly, there were way too many possible bad case scenarios that her wild imagination couldn't even peg which one was the worst.

"This is truly despicable," the mayor scolded her. "Invading my daughter's privacy—"

"Daddy!"

Marinette resisted the urge to cringe or cower at the sound of Chloe's voice. However, it was impossible to ignore how seemingly happy that tone was.

"Chloe!" the mayor squeaked in surprise. "What are you—"

"Oh, I just wanted to tell you that Marinette forgot something in my room when we had some project together. I told her she could get it. I didn't think it would cause her so much trouble."

The mayor blinked. Marinette blinked. Officer Raincomprix blinked.

Chloe just smiled one of those overly fake smiles she gave when trying to get her way. "So you don't have to punish her, daddy. It was a simple misunderstanding. She's free to go, right?"

It took a moment for the mayor to respond. "Oh! Uh, well, I suppose."

"Great." Chloe grabbed Marinette's bag from her father's desk and shoved it at her, then proceeded to push Marinette out of her father's office. "Bye. Have a nice evening." With one last shove, Marinette was out of the office and the door slammed shut behind her.

It took a moment to get her bearings, but once she did, she noticed Adrien slumped over in a chair looking suspiciously sheepish. "You got me out of there, didn't you?"

"I don't really want to talk about it."

Her brow raised, her ladybug sense screaming at her.

"Hey, Mari," Adrien continued, finally looking up at her the way a guilty child looked up at their parent. "Do you mind if we don't see much of each other for… a month?"

* * *

Adrien was a walking dead man.

"It's all over the internet," Alya commented. "Sabrina made sure of it."

"Of course, she did," Nino said with a sigh. "Adrien's gonna be ticked."

"Oh, Adrien's gonna be _dead_," Alya swore. "And Mari's gonna kill him."

"How long do you think he's even gonna be able to hide it from her?"

"If that's all you have to say," Marinette's angry voice rang out in the back ground, prompting Alya to immediately shove her phone away. "Then don't say anything at all. In the meantime, I have a lucky charm to set up."

With that, Marinette marched off toward Alya, leaving a very put-out Adrien in her wake.

Nino moved away from the girls towards his bro. "Well, looks like you got her outta trouble."

Adrien grunted.

"I just can't believe you kissed Chloe to do it."

"One word to Mari and your dead."

* * *

The city was saved, at least. But Adrien knew his life was very close to being on the line again. "I've gotta go for the night," Chat Noir said, standing up from where he and his superhero friends were hanging out on the Eiffel Tower. "I promised Chloe."

"If you ask me," Carapace began. "She should leave you alone for the night. You know, with that down payment and all."

Adrien inwardly cursed then disowned his former best bro.

"Down payment?" Ladybug asked, glaring up at Chat. "What are they talking about?"

Adrien didn't want to answer. So he didn't. "Gotta go see ya bye!"

"Chat Noir!"

* * *

"How long do you think it's gonna be before Marinette forgives him?" Nino asked his girlfriend as they watched Marinette storm to her next class with Adrien following behind like a lost puppy.

"If it were me, never," Alya sassed. "But who knows. Maybe she'll come around one day."


End file.
